Todd Lynn

ANTE BELLUM was the name given to <a href="http://www.vogue.co.uk/brand/todd-lynn" target="_blank">Todd Lynn’s autumn/winter 2013-14 collection, which he showed at Somerset House this afternoon.

The Latin moniker – meaning "before the war" – is inspired by “the Gopher Gang, a New York tribe who would jump people for their clothes and then send them to a seamstress for alterations” - so the show notes told us – and this was Lynn’s starting point for his latest sartorial offering.

He translated this idea with tailored jackets, which were nipped in at the back, injecting volume into the shoulder area and creating a splay at the waist – as if they weren’t made for the wearer but they were wearing them anyway. A subversive take on tailoring, a concept reinforced by the overlapping skirts which were actually jackets cut open and sewn closed.

The biker element of the collection was the most successful - leathers in nude, black and midnight blue were as they should be: tough-talking and skin-tight – as was Lynn’s use of texture – streaked velvet, goat fur and pony skin - an area he started giving more attention to this time last year. Elsewhere the long pleated skirts with paper-bag waists injected drama.

“He’s true to his identity,” Vogue’s fashion editor Francesca Burns said after the show. This is true – it’s an identity that continues to make an impact.